How Long Does Therapeutic Community Treatment Last?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the therapeutic community is the “best-known residential treatment model,” although many individuals do not actually realize what it entails or know how long treatment even lasts.

Treatment Lengths for the Therapeutic Community Model

“Planned lengths of stay [for therapeutic community patients last] between 6 and 12 months.” This is far longer than the general 90 days associated with most other addiction treatment programs. Nonetheless, it is important for patients to spend this much time in a therapeutic community program in order to recover fully from their addictions and receive the full benefits of the program itself.

Featured Rehab Center

Orchid Recovery Center

Good outcomes are unconditionally based on treatment length, according to various studies on the subject, and patients who leave treatment early are often much more likely to relapse than those who finish the entire program before moving on to the next chapter of their recovery. In many cases, the general treatment length is much shorter, but patients in therapeutic communities will only gain from the program if they attend for this extended amount of time.

Why Does Therapeutic Community Treatment Last So Long?

The comprehensive services offered at therapeutic community treatment centers can take quite some time to complete.

Certain rehab programs have extended treatment lengths that are necessary to a patient’s overall recovery, such as methadone maintenance, and the therapeutic community model require this length of treatment for several very specific reasons.

Therapeutic communities are very structured, ensuring patients wake up, attend therapy, go to classes, and go to bed at specific times every day. Just getting used to this type of schedule can take time.

It can also take time for the individuals to come to terms with the confrontational style of treatment at a therapeutic community and for them to begin to have the kind of breakthrough the treatment is meant to create.

“Many therapeutic communities offer comprehensive services, which can include employee training and other support services, onsite,” an option that can take extra time for patients to complete, in some cases, after general treatment has ended.

Individuals who require this type of treatment are often struggling with more than just drug addiction itself and usually have issues with communication and interacting with others. The program works to focus on these issues as well.

The examination of damaging beliefs and self-concepts is also an important part of the program, which can take individuals a very long time to come to grips with.

The doctors, nurses, counselors, and staff of the therapeutic community, as well as the other patients, are meant to become active participants in every individual’s recovery, which means everyone needs ample time to get to know each other and to participate in helping one another succeed.

The treatment itself is highly beneficial, but it takes time for it to work. Every individual who completes the therapeutic community program, though, is able to understand themselves in a new light and often develops much stronger interaction skills as well as coping mechanisms that do not involve substance abuse. If you would like to learn more about the program or find facilities in your area that utilize it, call 800-481-6320 today.

More Rehab Centers Resources

One of the most difficult things to do is watch a loved one kill themselves with drugs or alcohol. You beg and plead with them, asking them to seek treatment but they always go back to their addiction. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, treatment does not have to be voluntary to work…..

In the past 10 years, teen drug abuse has seen significant increased and some minor decreases along the way. Unfortunately, the number of teens who are now using dangerous drugs is seeing an all-time high that has not been reached in the prior 20 years. Teens today aren’t just experimenting with pot or alcohol, today’s teen drug….

Heroin is an opioid that they make from the opiate morphine. It is a synthetic form of the pain killer that originally came from the opium poppy in Asia. Heroin is typically a white or brown powder or in the case of Black Tar Heroin, it is a black sticky substance resembling tar. According to….

Many different types of rehab centers exist: some provide a more lax environment from which patients are able to come and go every day while others provide a more restrictive environment where patients stay at the facility and are very scheduled throughout the day. As such, it is sometimes difficult to know which individuals need….

The National Survey on Drug Use & Health estimated that more than 1.2 million Americans who were over the age of 12 had used methamphetamine at least once in their lifetime. This habit forming drug can result in a lifetime of consequences and for some will lead to addictive behaviors that require treatment and rehabilitation….

As you compare inpatient and outpatient rehab facilities, you will learn about the pros and cons of both types.There are many reasons why a growing number of people are choosing a live in rehab facility. Before we get into the five top reasons for this decision, there is something you need to know: these types….

Drug rehab is a great opportunity for you–if you take it for what it’s worth and work with it! If you simply walk into drug rehab with the intention of not doing your part, then there’s a good chance that the treatment won’t do a whole lot for you. It’s an investment in your future, an….

There are a lot of things that Hollywood gets wrong. This is particularly true when it comes to drug addiction and rehab. Unfortunately, with actors, actresses, and other famous people do nothing to help. By flitting in and out of rehab as if they are changing clothes, all they do is perpetuate the myths. The….

Xanax belongs to a family of drugs known as benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines do a good job at relieving symptoms of anxiety and stress in general. Drugs in this class also carry a risk of addiction when not taken as prescribed or used for recreational purposes. According to American Family Physician, one to two percent of the….

The National Highway Traffic Safetey Administration (NHTSA) has designated December to be National Impaired Driving Prevention Month, which is an effort to combat drunk and drugged driving to help reduce accidents and associated fatalities. According to a release from the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Gil Kerlikowske, 1 out of….